Friday, 31 May 2013

The Government's plan to reduce car prices gradually by between 20%
and 30% within the next five years is the best mechanism for consumers
and the automotive industry without disrupting the ecosystem, said an
industry expert.

“Five years is the right timing to reduce car
prices because a sudden reduction would impact the second-hand car
industry,” Malaysia Automotive Institute chief executive officer Madani Sahari said.
He
said although the car price cut plan had recently received wide
publicity, the exercise itself started last year with some popular car
brands reducing their car prices by 2% to 5%.

“The Government has
had the car price reduction plan in the yet-to-be-announced National
Automotive Policy since 2011 and had started to implement it since last
year in a silent way,” he said on the sidelines of a forum on “Business
Time Insight The National Automotive Policy” here yesterday.

Madani
said the car price reduction did not involve a cut in the excise
duties, as Malaysian companies in reality were only paying about 40% of
excise duties, even though it hovered at around 65%-105%, depending on
the segment, due to value-added activities undertaken in the country.

“Completely-knocked-down
(CKD) cars which are assembled in Malaysia basically have value-added
activities, and are therefore receiving the privilege of lower excise
duties. “Based on our calculations, most of our CKD cars enjoy excise
duties in the range of 40%,” he said. Meanwhile, Volkswagen Group Malaysia managing director Dr Zeno Kerschbaumer said the car price reduction policy showed the Government's effort to put consumers into the focus of their attention.

“This perfectly matches our (Volkswagen's)
policy to continuously bring the latest technology to customers at the
best price possible. I think it's a big message to consumers and gives
them the confidence that the Government was giving the consumers
interest in the focus of their policy,” he said.

He said the move
was also in line with the principle that the customers had to drive the
policy. “We need to leave all our options to the customers, and the
customers in the end need to decide what better fits their
requirements,” he said. - Bernama

Thursday, 30 May 2013

As
outlined in the 13th general election of the Barisan Nasional
manifesto, Mustapa said the government had promised to trim car prices
between 20 per cent and 30 per cent over five years.

“Infact,
since October last year, the price of 10 popular models in the country
have come down an average 7.3 per cent,” he told reporters yesterday
after attending the ministry’s monthly gathering, the first after
Mustapa was re-appointed to the Cabinet.

He said the price
reduction was part of the market process as a result of more efficient
and competitive players in the automotive industry.

Mustapa said
the price reduction exercise should be done in an orderly manner so as
not to affect the industry’s growth and existing jobs in the automotive
and related industries.

“As such, we have had discussions with
automotive manufacturers and they are aware of ongoing negotiations to
conclude a free trade agreement which would be implemented soon,” he
said.

JF Apex Securities in its research note on Monday said the
ruling coalition will likely take some time to implement car price
reduction considering the potential outcome which would dampen the
national carmaker, Proton’s market share.

The research house said
that a feasibility study needed to be done on the overall impact so as
to avoid disruptions to the automotive ecosystem.

“We do not foresee changes for months to come while awaiting update from the revised National Automotive Policy,” said JF Apex.

In
the meantime, Mustapa said industry players must now be ready to step
up their competitiveness edge in tandem with the industry which was
becoming more competitive in Malaysia and abroad.

Besides bringing
down car prices, the government was also reducing traffic congestion by
setting up a more efficient transport system in the country, he added. —
Bernama

Monday, 27 May 2013

Singapore leaders start to talk about the importance of having multiple skills rather than just obtaining a degree.

A
NUMBER of political leaders have appealed to Singaporeans not to place
too much faith on university degrees in an apparent effort to manage
public expectations.

This is the clearest sign yet that the
authorities are expecting a sustained period of relatively low economic
growth and slower employment opportunities.

Singaporeans, especially parents, who have long regarded the university degree as a key to a good life will likely be shocked.

For
decades, the government has been en­couraging youths to study hard or
lose out in a competitive world. This apparently spells a change in
education strategy.

It has also thrown more light on a baffling
revelation made earlier by a senior Education Ministry official to
American diplomats.

This revelation was that the global economy embraced by Singapore has made it much less conducive for over-educated societies.

Having
a large number of graduates, once thought crucial for Singapore’s
prosperity, is now considered not conducive to the changing manpower
market, at least in Singapore.

However, none of the political
leaders – the Prime Minister and three ministers – has mentioned another
reason for the excess of graduates – the mass intake of foreigners.

Led
by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and National Development Minister
Khaw Boon Wan, the leaders
are now advising Singaporeans to consider
non-university routes to success.

Khaw said: “You own a degree,
but so what? You can’t eat it. If that cannot give you a good life, a
good job, it is meaningless.”

He added that Singapore could not have an entire nation of graduates.

“Can
you have a whole country where 100% are graduates? I am not so sure.
What you do not want is to create huge graduate unemployment,” he said.

Then
it was the turn of Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, who said that a
good qualification alone does not guarantee a career, let alone a job.

Thirdly,
Acting Minister for Social and Fa­mily De­ve­l­opment Chan Chun Sing
said it is not the degree or diploma that is most important for
graduates, but the ability to learn a different set of skills.

“The
soft skills in life have to be acquired and have to be continuously
refreshed. If not, even with the best degree from the best universities
in the world, we may find ourselves obsolete one day.”

They were
taking the cue from Prime Minister Lee who had earlier told polytechnic
students that getting a degree is not the only option. He encouraged
them to work for a few years or start their own business.

“You
will gain experience and understand yourself better and then be better
able to decide what the next step will be,” he said at Ngee Ann
Polytechnic’s 50th anniversary celebration.

All these political
leaders have served to clarify a comment made by a senior education
ministry official that the government does not encourage more
Singaporeans to get higher education.

As revealed by Wikileaks
last year, assistant director of planning Cheryl Chan told the United
States diplomats that it would instead cap graduate enrolment rate at
20%.

The reason, she said, was: “The labour market does not require too many graduates.”

She
also admitted that only 23% of Singaporean students who entered primary
school would ever complete a four-year tertiary education, a figure far
below that of the United States (50%) and Taiwan.

This gave
confusing signals to a worried population, which probably ranks as one
of the most enthusiastic in Asia about getting a degree for their
children.

Many continue to make great personal sacrifices to help
their children and are unlikely to abandon this just because of what
the government says. The new emphasis is for multiple skills and drive.

So
far, the government has not reduced the places in university but has
instead increased them. The number of universities were raised to five
with a total enrolment of about 13,250 students, with about a third
being foreign students. Cutting down tertiary education is obviously not
in the cards – but “discouragement” is now taking place.

The
ruling party is dependent on the scholarship system to recruit its
future leaders, and it is still bent on attracting bright foreign
students to its shores.

In addition, nearly 18,000 Singaporeans
are studying in foreign institutions, mostly in Australia, the United
States and the United Kingdom. According to local media reports, the
market is unable to absorb the large number of graduates coming
onstream.

One report quoted a McKinsey & Co study as saying
that almost half of the graduates are holding jobs that do not require a
degree.

The over-supply is having a dampening effect on graduates’ salaries (again no mention of the foreign arrivals), it added.

In the past 10 years, undergraduate numbers have doubled.

The
effort to get Singaporeans to abandon the paper chase for their
children is almost like mission impossible. Many have begun to spend
thousands of dollars a month on private tuition for their kids starting
as young as seven years old.

What is the new drive aimed at? One
possibility is that it is trying to reduce the number of below average
students from joining the paper chase but still encouraging the bright
ones to carry on.

Economically, Singapore has barely escaped
another technical recession. A revised first quarter GDP shows a rise of
1.8%. Gone are the days of double-digit growth, probably never to
return.

So what work can non-graduates do? One suggestion from Prime Minister Lee is: “Become hawkers.”

Singapore
plans to build 10 large hawker centres. It’s a chance to develop
entrepreneurial skills in a business no Singaporean customer can avoid
for long – if the products are good.

Sunday, 26 May 2013

WHEN
it comes to hiring suitable talents, it would be ideal to have a
potential employee with the relevant qualifications as well as one that
has practical experience.

But what if there was just one vacancy
available – and the organisation had to choose between the two
candidates? In a hypothetical situation between a candidate that’s “book
smart” (has the relevant qualifications) and one that’s “street smart”
(has the practical experience), who would be the more likely choice?

More
importantly, is a high-paying job unattainable for those without formal
education? Or is there still a chance for a candidate that does not
have that oh-so-important diploma or degree?

The book smart candidate

Heera
Training and Management Consultancy principal consultant Heera Singh
believes a candidate with the relevant qualifications would generally be
“technically competent” in that job.

“It certainly brings
credibility to the job. For example, if someone has a Masters in Human
Resources (HR) Management, then the qualification enhances his
credibility,” he tells StarBizWeek.

“It also assists
greatly in the recruitment and selection of employees. For example, if a
job is advertised and does not specify technical qualifications, but
only states practical experience required, then every Tom, Dick and
Harry will apply and this will ensure lots of extra work for the HR
department,” Heera says.

Leaderonomics finance and human
resources leader Ang Hui Ming concurs that having the right
qualifications adds more credibility to an individual seeking employment
– at least on paper.

“Generally, the employee might probably
have a wider knowledge-base theoretically of the function he is hired
for and has some form of certification of his ability to understand at
least the basic concepts of the function,” she says.

However, it has often been said that what one learns in theory can be quite different in practice.

Heera
believes that the “book smart” candidate, though technically qualified,
still lacks experience – an important element that may be vital in
certain jobs.

Ang: ‘Being technically qualified doesn’t mean they can do the jobs well’.

“Being
technically qualified does not mean that they can do the jobs well.
They may be more academically inclined rather than hands-on.

“They
may be technically qualified but may not like the job. Many people, for
example, go to university and do courses that their parents want them
to do, or courses which their friends are doing. All they want to do is
to get their qualifications.”

Ang, meanwhile, feels that not
having the relevant experience is not a big deal – as it is something
that can be acquired over time.

“There is no real disadvantage, experience is to meant to be built anyway.

“At
most, it’s the lack of reality. If a person is all academic, it is
uncertain how he or she will handle real life situations where the
theories they learn needs to be adapted to the situation, environment
and culture of any given place and time.”

The street-smart candidate

The
advantage of hiring an employee with experience means that they can do
the job straight away with minimal disruptions, says Heera.

“There
is minimum need for any job orientation and at interviews, you can
ascertain the type of practical experience they have and see if it suits
or meets your job expectations.”

Ang concurs: “Generally, the
employee might have deeper expertise in the function and would have
experienced real-life situations in the function. This makes the person
more adaptable and adept to handle similar natured situations more
wisely and calmly.”

“The type of experience is important. If they
have the wrong type of experience, then it is of no use to the company.
For example, if a person has worked in a HR capacity in a government
department, then his experience may not necessarily gel with what is
wanted in the HR department in the private sector.

“Experience
can be a bad teacher as it is always difficult to mould a person who has
the experience but has picked up some bad habits along the way.”

Ang feels there’s no real disadvantage to hiring someone that has no paper qualifications but is oozing with experience.

“At
most, probably a possible lack of what’s new in the market, or what’s
happening on a global scale or what new technology is out there that can
better equip him or her in the function.

“This is only an
assumption as people that are hands-on can still learn market trends and
future technology if they read up and do research on their own. There
is just no paper qualification – that’s all.”

Does it really matter?

According to an article on online investment site Investopedia,
“Is It Better To Be Book Smart Or Street Smart,” its author, Tim
Parker, points out that one does not need to have the relevant paper
qualifications to be truly successful.

“Steve Jobs, co-founder of
Apple, is widely regarded as one of the best businessmen of his day. He
didn’t have a college degree and neither did Steve Wozniak, the other
founder of Apple.

“Other successful businessmen without college
degrees include Dell Computer founder Michael Dell, Microsoft founder
Bill Gates and Virgin Brands founder Sir Richard Branson. People all
over the world have found success without a college degree,” he writes.

But is that the rule or the exception, he then asks.

“Unemployment
data shows that more than 8% of the population looking for a job (in
the US) can’t find one.

However, for those with a bachelor’s degree, the
unemployment rate is only 3.9%. The unemployment rate is 13% for people
without a high school diploma.

“A college degree doesn’t
guarantee success, but Bureau of Labour Statistics unemployment
statistics show book smarts more than double your chances of finding a
job.”

Of course, having an employee with both the relevant paper
qualifications and practical experience would be the optimum choice,
naturally.

“This would definitely be an ideal combination,” says Heera.

Ang
says having both qualities would indeed be a plus point, adding however
that having both relevant qualification and practical experience does
not make one a best employee.

“It’s a person’s character, values
and attitude that makes him or her a good employee. Qualifications and
experience are all things that can be accumulated as long as one has the
right attitude and desire.”

Income earners in their 20s are fast making their presence felt in the property market. But getting there takes discipline.

HE
acquires one property a year. He has been doing this for the past five
years. Today, at the age of 38, his one regret is that he didn’t start
earlier, when he was in his 20s.

Entrepreneur JS dishes out
advice that he himself takes seriously. He tells young people all the
time that they should invest in property from a young age, or the money
that could have gone into real estate would be frittered away.

He
believes that investment in property delivers the best returns. Apart
from property, where else can young investors leverage on a 10%
investment for a stable future gain? Any other transaction, whether in
silver or shares, requires payment in full.

As real estate is
based on supply and demand, one has greater control over it compared to
paper investments like unit trusts and shares.

JS believes that if a person is determined to own a piece of property, he can do so when he is in his 20s.

His formula is simple: the minute you start working, you should start saving for a property.

Put
aside a sum of 20% of your salary every month for two years towards a
property. But the challenge will be to live within the balance 80%,
especially if it means giving up Starbucks, clubbing, smoking and
shopping.

If your take-home income after several years of working
is RM4,000 and you put aside RM800 a month, by the end of 24 months,
you would have saved about RM20,000.

And that is good enough for a
10% down payment for your first foray into the property market,
probably a small apartment in the fringe of the city.

While
the cheapest high rise properties in inner Petaling Jaya and Kuala
Lumpur are in the region of RM400,000 to RM500,000, it is still possible
to buy properties close to RM200,000 in outer KL areas like Puchong,
Sentul, Cheras, Seri Kembangan, Serdang, Cyberjaya, Bangi, and in Shah
Alam.

With Klang Valley’s population at 7.2 million and expected
to rise to 10 million in another seven years, there will be a constant
demand for living quarters.

If you are renting out your property
(the average yield is about 5%) you will probably have to top up the
rental you collect on your property to cover your loan repayment.

As a simple ballpark, the loan repayment would be estimated at RM1,200 a month based on 20-year loan for a RM200,000 loan.

But after a year or two, you can increase the rental and eventually your property will be self-financing.

One
father who is completely sold on getting his kids to start young is
Ten. He got his daughter, 29, and son, 25, to fork out RM13,500 each to
purchase their respective three-bedroom apartments in Puchong for
RM135,000 more than a year ago.

His daughter sold her unit a year
after the purchase for RM170,000. After the real property gains tax and
other costs, she was able to make a net profit of RM25,000. The capital
appreciation on her apartment was about 20%, not including her rental
income that year.

With that, she now has close to RM40,000 (seed
money plus profit) for her next – and higher value – property. In fact,
the senior manager of a multi-national is now eyeing a RM600,000
condominium in Petaling Jaya and Ten is fully supportive of her next
purchase (only a 10% downpayment is needed for the first two existing
loans).

A great believer in property investment, Ten, a retiree,
is all smiles these days as his total property investment which was
valued at RM3mil in 2010 has since more than doubled. His own house, a
double-storey corner lot in Section 17, which he bought for RM63,000 in
1978 after working for five years, is now worth about RM1.5mil.

The
phenomenal increase in property prices in the past few years, shares
the CEO of a realty firm, is unprecedented. He attributes it mainly to a
prevailing low housing loan interest rate of about 4.1%, which is
barely above the 4% government housing loan rate.

According to a
report by Oriental Realty and Zeppelin Real Estate Analysis Ltd, the
residential property market in Malaysia has seen an overall price
appreciation of 78% from the first quarter of 2000 to the third quarter
of 2011.

While the CEO thinks that buying a property or two for a
young adult is a good form of forced savings, he cautions that one must
buy within one’s means and be careful with one’s cash flow.

“What
if you lose you job tomorrow? Don’t overstretch. As the Chinese saying
goes, don’t try to cover 10 woks with nine covers,” says the real estate
man who has been in the business for more than 30 years.

A tip
he shares for “good deals” is to look out for “leftover” property –
often balance or unsold units developers want to clear cheaply or
bumiputra units – which are not advertised but handled by the bigger
real estate agents. Usually, there will be innovative schemes to make
the units affordable. New launches are a good place to start too.

Sometimes, it’s also a fine balance between patience and research and paralysis by analysis.

Leigh,
35, was on the lookout for a property to buy when he was in his 20s.
But every time he found something in a new development that he liked,
his real estate businessman father would pooh pooh it.

“The first
property I looked at was a studio apartment going for RM90,000. My dad
was not keen as it was a new area. Today, it’s worth RM250,000.”

On
his fourth attempt in 2009, he managed to buy a condominium unit still
under construction in Subang at a good price from someone who had an
overseas posting. He sold it two years later at RM600,000 and pocketed
more than RM200,000.

When Leigh bought his current home in Mont
Kiara, he took his time and studied the area, went to the ground and
spoke to owners instead of researching only via online portals.

“Most
of the owners were asking for RM580,000 to RM620,000. So I told real
estate agents that if there were any units going for below RM550,000,
please alert me,” says Leigh who joined his father’s realty firm four
years ago.

After three months, he got his break when a Singaporean owner wanted to sell his unit and Leigh paid RM530,000 for it!

His
advice to young investors: do your homework. Study the master plan;
look into the background of the developer, quality and design of the
product. Be clear on what you want: are you looking for capital
appreciation or rental income? If you need the rental income to cover
the bulk of your monthly housing loan, you would choose the latter.

For
an investment of RM20,000 plus a housing loan, your return after three
years upon completion of the property could be more than two fold.

And the key to your first property – based completely on your own finances – is to save for it.

When
it comes to saving, don’t worry about the amount, worry about the
habit. Says a financial coach, if you’re an employee and you’re not
earning the income you need to make that first property, look at how you
can add value to your boss to get that increment. If there’s a will,
there’s a property waiting….

Common Sen-se by LEANNE GOH

Note: A recent chat with a
29-year-old colleague was enlightening. She has already sold one
property, bought the one she’s living in and has invested in another.
Among 10 of her friends, four have already bought property.

Saturday, 25 May 2013

Tan Sri Andrew Sheng gives analyses the populist and expert views of how the yen measures against the “unloved US dollar standard”.

TRAVELLING around the South-East Asian region last week, the mood was all about currency fluctuation and impact on markets.

Things
do look different when the Thai stock market daily turnover touches
US$2bil and is higher than that of Singapore. But the headline that Thai
growth slowed quarter-on-quarter but still grew 5.3% year-on-year gave
rise to fears that export-driven economies in the region are beginning
to slow.

The guru on the dollar relationship with the East Asian currencies has to be Stanford Professor Ronald I. McKinnon. McKinnon made his name with his first book, Money and Capital in Economic Development
(1973), where he took forward the pioneering work of his Stanford
colleague, Edward S. Shaw on the phenomenom of “financial repression”
the use of negative real interest rates as a tax to finance development.
His second book, The Order of Economic Liberalization: Financial Control in the Transition to a Market Economy (1993), was an influential textbook on how to get the sequencing of financial and trade reform right.

McKinnon's
second area of expertise is the international currency order,
explaining the macro-economics of the US dollar and its relationship
with other currencies, particularly the yen and other East Asian
currencies. The trouble was that his analysis did not “jive” with the
populist policy view that “revaluing the other currency” would reduce
the US trade deficit.

This began with the concern in the 1970s
that the US-Japan trade imbalance was due to the cheap yen relative to
the dollar. The Plaza Accord in 1985 was the political agreement to
strengthen the yen and depreciate the dollar. From 1985 to 1990, the yen
appreciated from 240 yen to 120 yen per dollar, followed by a huge
bubble and two lost decades of growth.

In his important new book, McKinnon explains some uncomfortable truths with regard to what he called The Unloved Dollar Standard: From Bretton Woods to the Rise of China,
Oxford University Press. The dollar standard is unloved because of what
one US Treasury Secretary told his foreign critics of US exchange rate
policy “our dollar, your problem”.

McKinnon argues that US
monetary policy has been highly insular, despite globalisation making
such insularity obsolete. He thinks that three macroeconomic fallacies
were responsible the Phillips Curve Fallacy; the Efficient Market
Fallacy and the Exchange Rate and Trade Balance Fallacy. In the 1960s,
the US belief in the Phillips Curve that higher inflation generated
lower unemployment resulted in the US pushing the Europeans and the
Japanese to appreciate their currencies. When they refused, Nixon broke
the link with gold in 1971.

In the Greenspan era (1987-2008),
there was a strong belief in Efficient Markets, which encouraged global
foreign exchange liberalisation, despite high volatility. But the most
enduring fallacy is the belief that the exchange rate's role is to
correct trade imbalance, hence the Japan bashing in the 1980s and the
China bashing in the 21st century in order to push for their exchange
rates to appreciate in order to reduce the US trade deficit.

McKinnon
considers the third fallacy as the most pernicious conceptual barrier
to a more internationalist and stable US monetary policy. Chapter 7,
which is written by his student Helen Qiao, gives a robust argument why
the third fallacy is wrong. She argues that while a depreciation of an
insular economy with no net foreign liability may result in improved
trade balance, it is not clear whether the depreciation of the dollar
with a large net global liability is to the benefit of the United
States.

In the case of Japan, a rising yen since the 1970s did
not “cure” the Japanese trade surplus with the US. Between 2005 to 2007,
when the yuan appreciated, the Sino-US trade surplus doubled. Qiao
worries that China could follow Japan's steps into deflation and even a
zero-interest rate liquidity trap if the yuan continues to appreciate.

The
central thesis of this book is that the US should recognise that the
dollar standard is actually a global standard, with many privileges and
responsibilities. Depreciating the dollar is not to the US advantage,
because it would only lead to future inflation. Instead, the US should
concentrate on improving its competitiveness and manufacturing prowess.
This requires having positive real interest rates.

The logic of
the McKinnon thesis is irrefutable, although his American colleagues may
find the conclusions somewhat unpalatable. The logic is that whoever
maintains the dominant currency standard must maintain strong
self-discipline, because the benchmark standard cannot be on shifting
sands. If the dollar is weak because the US economy is weak, then all
other currencies will be volatile, because they float around an unsteady
standard.

For small open economies that maintain large trade
with the US, having dollar pegs require them to keep their economies
flexible and they must maintain fiscal and monetary discipline. This is
the experience of the Hong Kong dollar peg.

Flexible exchange
rates have not resulted in countries adjusting their overall
competitiveness. What happened instead is that flexible exchange rates
often allow governments to run “soft budget constraints” and try to
depreciate their way out of the lack of competitiveness.

It is
the refusal to make structural reforms that cause overall
competitiveness to decline and these economies then go into a vicious
circle of over-reliance on the exchange rate to keep the economy afloat.
This is not sustainable, since if everyone tries to devalue their way
out of trouble, rather than making structural adjustments, then the
world will enter into a collective deflation.

The solution to
this requires the US and China to work cooperatively at the monetary and
exchange rate levels. This makes a lot of sense, which is why perhaps
presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping are meeting soon to achieve rapport.

Anyone
who wants to understand currency wars must read this book. It is an
honest and frank appraisal of how we need common sense to get out of the
current fragile state of global currency arrangements.

Friday, 24 May 2013

All our dreams can come true, if you have the courage to change and pursue them

- Walt Disney

Today marks three important events in Siddhartha Gautama’s life – his
birth, enlightenment and death. Two thousand years after his
parinirvana, Gautama’s teachings still thrives because in one’s darkest
hours and bleakest moments, his wisdom gives hopes, strength and joy to
the sorrowful heart and tormented soul. Such is the greatness of this
prince we called Buddha or the Enlightened One. Have a blessed Wesak.

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Operator stopped paying rent as the council failed implementing an e-ticketing system

Disquiet
in the air: A confrontation between Sungai Nibong Express Bus Terminal
management staff and MPPP enforcement personnel at the main gate of the
terminal in Sungai Nibong, Penang.

EFFORTS by the
Penang Muni-cipal Council (MPPP) to take over the management of the
Sungai Nibong Express Bus Ter-minal were halted following a three-hour
confrontation with the current operator.

The council postponed
its action to take vacant possession of the terminal following the
resistance, and called off some 50 council enforcement personnel at the
scene.

Several enforcement personnel had arrived there as early as 7.30am Tuesday.

Their
arrival was anticipated by the operator Aspirasi Utara Engi-neering
(AUE) and a few of its staff members and representatives confronted the
MPPP personnel.

Their exchange heated up from around 8.30am, and
the group steadily grew to about 50 MPPP enforcement personnel and 20
people from AUE about three hours later.

MPPP Valuation
Department deputy director Mohamed Idrus Saleh then briefed the
enforcement team that their operation was being postponed.

In a
written statement issued to reporters at the scene, the council said it
had terminated the appointment of AUE as the operator of the terminal
effective June 30, 2012.

It also said that AUE had on July 24,
2012, obtained an ex-parte order from the High Court to pro- hibit MPPP
from taking any enforcement action concerning the bus terminal.

“The
High Court then on Dec 28, 2012, set aside the ex-parte order after
dismissing AUE’s inter-parte application for an injunction.

“The
court also dismissed AUE’s application (pending its appeal) for an
Erinford injunction on the same day, and dismissed its application for
stay of execution on Feb 22 this year,” read the statement.

It
also stated that MPPP, as the local authority and owner of the bus
terminal, wanted to take over the management of the terminal in the
interests of the public and users.

AUE legal advisor Mohd Noor
Sirajajudeen Mohd Abdul Kader said they resisted the operation by MPPP
because the personnel had come without a court order.

“They just came and pasted the notice to take over the management on the window of our office here on Monday morning,” he said.

He added that MPPP’s action was not in accordance with the law.

Company
director Mohd Faisal Sirashahabudeen Mohd Abdul Kader said MPPP’s
attempt to take over the management and the termination notice were
still subject matters in court.

“The issue is still in court and
MPPP’s action is deemed a disrup-tion to the administration of justice
and contempt of court,” Mohd Faisal said.

He then ordered the council personnel to leave the terminal within 45 minutes.

He
said the company had been appointed by MPPP to be the operator since
2010 but stopped paying the monthly rental of RM22,500 in January 2012
as the council had failed to implement an e-ticketing system.

The
terminal was built by the MPPP in 2004 and has 41 ticket counters, five
stalls, a restaurant, a bakery, 10 parking spaces for buses and 12
route platforms

By WINNIE YEOH winnie@thestar.com.my Photos by ZHAFARAN NASIB

Footnote:

Penang Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal

Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal is the centralised long distance express
bus terminal on Penang Island. It was opened in May 2005, before that
long distance express bus runs from Komtar, Georgetown. Though most
express bus companies have relocated their operation to Sungai Nibong
bus terminal, even until today, there are still some express bus
companies departing from Komtar, Georgetown. For these groups of buses,
they depart from Komtar then go to Sungai Nibong to pick up another
group of passengers before leaving the island for the destinations. This
is especially convenient for tourist who usually spends time and stays
hotel in Georgetown area.

Sungai Nibong bus terminal is located about mid-way between northern
and southern end of Penang Island. It is near the famous Penang bridge
about 20 minutes to the city centre. Many city bus coaches arrive and
depart from this terminal. Please check MyRapid for Penang city bus network details.

How do get to Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal?

The best way to get to Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal are by taxis and city buses.

Taxi fare from Georgetown area to Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal is around
RM 25-35, whereas the travelling time is about 15 minutes.

Bus fare is RM 2 from from Georgetown area to Sungai Nibong Bus
Terminal, whereas the travelling time is about 20 minutes. Do prepare
yourself earlier if you are rushing for bus, in case of heavy traffic
and longer waiting time for the bus.

How do get to city, Georgetown, from Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal?

The best way to get to city from Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal are by taxis and city buses.

Taxi stand is just in front of the Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal.

As for city bus, you can easily find the it from the two bus stops at
the Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal. One is located at the front entrance of
the terminal (along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah) and the other one is
located at the side entrance of the terminal (along Jalan Sungai Dua, at
the opposite site of the terminal for town direction).

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

The call by pro-Umno bloggers and Muslim groups for a boycott of Chinese
businesses is racist and will harm the country’s economic growth,
according to businessmen from the community - The Malaysian Insider

PETALING JAYA: Boycotting products made by Malaysians, regardless of their race, is self-defeating, said a local business group.

Small and Medium Industries Association president Teh Kee Sin said the workforce of these companies are made up of all races and so are their shareholders.

If
Malaysians started boycotting these products, it would also affect
their export potential and both local businesses and consumers would
lose, he said.

“Boycott doesn’t make sense as it would hamper the chances for Malaysian businesses to compete at a global level.

“The
current business market is very competitive thus local businesses
should complement each other to make our products more competitive,” he
said when contacted yesterday.

Teh was commenting on calls by
certain non-governmental organisations for the Malays to boycott
Chinese traders and their products.

Prior to that there was a
campaign in social media forum urging the Chinese to boycott certain
products produced by a Malay company.

Teh said that the biggest
losers as a result of such boycott were not just the consumers and the
producers, but also the workers of the companies due to the spill-over
effect.

The chain reaction from such boycott would also affect the suppliers, distributers, traders and shopkeepers.

Teh explained local businesses should instead prepare themselves for the Asean Economic Community initiative.

“The initiative presents a lot of opportunities provided we are ready.

“If we are not ready and squabble among ourselves, then we stand to lose,” he said.

He said one of the benefits of the AEC was less red-tape in starting businesses overseas.

“For example, one can set up a company in Malaysia and run a business in Thailand.

“In short less bureaucratic procedures in doing business,” he said adding that the competitiveness level would surely increase.

Teh urged groups calling for boycotts to cease immediately as it would only lead to huge losses for the nation.

“We should focus on working together rather than against each other,” he said.

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI farik@thestar.com.my

Mustapa against call to boycott products of Chinese firms

“I
can understand why some of my Malay friends have reacted in such a
manner. However, as the dust is settling down and as we lead our normal
lives once again, I am confident that the spirit of 1Malaysia will
return,” he said through SMS yesterday.

He was commenting on
reports that some groups had called for Malay consumers to boycott
products by certain Chinese companies, which they alleged had funded
Pakatan Rakyat’s campaign during the general election.

The products involved in the call for boycott include several brands of cooking oil, tonic drink, food outlets and bread.

It
appears to be a retaliation against an earlier boycott called by
Chinese groups against a brand of wheat flour and bread produced by a
Malay company.

Muslim Wholesalers and Retailers Association (Mawar) president Amanullah Mohd Maideen said the boycott would be a double-edged sword and advised its 700 members to stay clear of politics.

“If
it continues, the affected businesses will lose customers, but the
groups which boycott them will also lose public support,” said
Amanul-lah.

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Forty-year-old Riduan Masmud who allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl,

KOTA KINABALU: He allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl and saw no wrong in it.

Riduan
Masmud, the 40-year-old who shocked the nation after being charged with
raping the minor and later declared that he had married her in the
midst of the case, has opened up for the first time on why he decided to
take the girl as his second wife.

The restaurant manager defended his action, saying it was a case of suka sama suka (mutual consent), adding that it was acceptable under Syariah law.

It
could not be ascertained whether the girl met Riduan while she was at
school or whether she had been working for him. She is from a very poor
family.

As his rape case came up for mention at a Sessions Court
yesterday, Riduan told reporters that he had known the girl for about
six months and felt he had the right (to marry an underage girl).

“There
are many cases of men marrying underage girls. I do not see why my case
should be any different,“ said the father of four children, aged
between two and 17. He declined to say if any of them is a girl.

Riduan
was speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after Sessions Court
Judge Ummu Khatom Abd Samad set July 1 to 4 to hear the case.

Judge Ummu Khatom gave the Attorney-General's Chambers until June 6 to make a decision on whether to proceed with the case.

Riduan was charged on Feb 28 with raping the girl inside a car parked by the roadside in Inanam near here at 10am on Feb 18.

On
May 7, DPP Ahmad Nazmeen Zulkifli told the court he had no objection
for the case to be withdrawn after the girl withdrew the rape report
against the man April 18.

It is understood that it was the girl's aunt who lodged the police report after she found out about the “affair”.

All
eyes were on the girl who appeared briefly in court. She has a
childlike face, wore some make up, and tied up her long hair in a pony
tail. Thin and looking under-developed, she was dressed in a T-shirt and
jeans.

Riduan said he would let his child-wife finish her
studies first and “maybe later take up a cosmetic course with my first
wife”, adding that she was a make-up artist.

His wife also told
the press that she had accepted the teenager to be her husband's second
wife and promised to guide her through her studies.

However, Riduan stopped talking and moved away from the media when he was signalled by a lawyer not to talk.

The girl's father, who was also at the court, said he accepted his daughter's marriage to Riduan as they liked each other.

“It is best for her that they get married. What else can I do?” he added.

As
the case came up for mention yesterday, DPP Chaw Siang Kong told the
court that he needed time to review the case as it involved public
interest.

Monday, 20 May 2013

Bring back English schools

It is unhealthy for race relations when the student population in
Chinese schools is 99.9% Chinese, Tamil schools is 100% Indian and
national schools, dubbed Malay schools, is 80% to 90% Malay.

SERIOUSLY, the government should allow the use of English as a medium
of instruction in schools again. If there are Chinese and Tamil primary
schools alongside national schools, there is no reason for Malaysians
not to have other options.

At present, the other option for
better English proficiency is in private schools, which allocate more
time for the teaching of English despite following the national school
syllabus. However, it is an expensive option that only a few can afford.

Why
should the right of Malaysians to study in English-medium schools be
enjoyed only by those who can afford to study at international schools?

There
are many good reasons for English-medium schools to be reintroduced,
chief of which must surely be the language's neutral status whereby no
one can claim ownership to it.

Older Malaysians who went to
English-medium schools can testify that it was in such an environment
that they made many friends of all ethnic backgrounds.

The English schools, as they were popularly referred to, were neutral grounds and were real cultural melting pots.

Friendship
cultivated at primary school level among Malaysians of different races
and religions would always be strong and deep. Our current primary
school system basically does not provide such opportunities for our
young ones to mix.

We do get to mix with one another later on in
life, but working relationships that are untested or superficial are not
true friendships.

Older Malaysians can narrate long stories of
how they used to sleep over at their friends' homes, eating with their
friends' families and parents of their friends treating them like their
own children. These friendships continued even after they went to
university, entered working life, and got married.

These are the kinds of friends who would be part of the wedding entourage, either on the side of the bride or bridegroom.

I am now 52 years old. I believe I was among the last batch of Malaysians who had the privilege of being taught in English.

While
some may dismiss what I have said as elitist or an attempt to glorify
English at the expense of the national language, let me set the record
straight. In Form 6, I opted to study Malay Literature and sat for the
exam in Upper Six, which was then called Higher School Certificate and
is the equivalent of the STPM today. It was also the entrance exam into
local universities. I also studied Islamic History.

During my
first year at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, I also chose Malay Letters
as one of my three majors. At UKM, it is also compulsory to pass the
Islamic Civilisation course, which was a basic course on Islam. I have
also amassed a huge collection of books on Islam in my private library,
and the works of Malay artists like Yusuf Ghani and Ismail Latiff
continue to inspire me.

I dare say many of our politicians and
leaders of so-called non-governmental organisations, who loudly make
statements with racial overtones, do not even have such credentials.

But
the point I am making is that more and more Chinese parents are sending
their children to Chinese primary schools because they believe the
standard of teaching and discipline in these schools is better. For the
same reason, the number of Malay students at such schools has also
increased.

But most Malay parents send their children to national
schools where they form the bulk of the student population. Over the
years, the national schools have been seen by many Chinese as becoming
more religious in nature.

It's a Catch 22 situation. If the
Chinese are shunning national schools, then the students in these
schools would be predominantly Malay.

The Federal Constitution
guarantees the position of Chinese and Tamil schools. No politician,
whether in Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, would dare to make any
statement against these vernacular schools.

But the reality is
that it is unhealthy when the student population in Chinese schools is
99.9% Chinese, Tamil schools is 100% Indian and national schools, dubbed
Malay schools, is 80% to 90% Malay!

It is meaningless to talk
about 1Malaysia when our children have no friends of other races in
their formative years! Many Malaysians in their 30s and 40s now are
already in this situation.

Just ask Malaysians at random how many real friends of other races, not colleagues, customers or bosses, they have. Be honest.

Is
it any wonder then that the Malays are incredulous when they see
Chinese Malaysians who can't speak Bahasa Malaysia well or even refuse
to speak Bahasa among themselves?

The Chinese, on the other hand,
still wonder why some Malay quarters continue to ask what else the
Chinese want when they find that some policies are working against them
and make them feel discriminated.

This is happening because race
relations have taken a beating. The various races are not talking or
trying to understand one another. Each side only sees its own viewpoint
without appreciating that in a complex and plural society like ours, no
one group can have its way completely.

We have churned out bigots
in our schools. It also doesn't help that the various races are only
watching channels in their own languages on Astro. The only time they probably watch the same channel is when an English Premier League football match is on.

If
we are serious about restoring the standard of English in schools and
improving race relations in this country, bring back the English-medium
schools. Let Malaysians choose.

On the Beat by WONG CHUN WAI

Yes, bring back English schools

I AGREE with Wong Chun Wai’s views as expressed in his On The Beat column to “Bring back English schools”.

It
is timely for our Prime Minister and his new Cabinet to seriously
consider bringing back English-medium schools to help foster racial
unity among Malaysians.

Racial unity begins in the most formative
years of our children, which is the time when they are in primary and
secondary schools.

This is the time when they can easily relate
to one another as true friends without even thinking of race, religion
or social background.

I am 51 years old and a practising
Buddhist. I was educated in a mission school, the St Xavier’s
Institution in Penang, of which I am very proud of until today.

During
our formative years, we had many close friends of all races. We played
games together with the Malays and Indians after school, and usually
ended up enjoying their families’ home-cooked food and hospitality.

It was during such moments that we not only appreciated the spicy curry dishes, but we also learned about their cultures.

These
fond memories and happy moments with classmates like Mohd Farid, Mohd
Salmi, Razak, Ismail Manaf, Chandran, Ravi, Richard Clarence and many
others are still vivid in my mind.

But my own children, who are now in their teens, are not able to share similar moments.

Another
good reason to bring back English-medium schools must surely be to
improve our command of the language, both written and oral.

Many of our local university graduates have a very poor command of the language.

As
a human resource practitioner for more than 15 years, I have met many
of these fresh graduates who cannot speak properly, or even complete a
conversation in English during interviews.

They prefer to speak
either in Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin because they did not grow up in an
environment where they could use English more frequently.

It
appears to me that those who go to government schools are greatly
disadvantaged in this respect when compared to their peers who go to
private or international schools.

In my time, we have no choice but to speak in English, as that was our common language in school.

Bringing
these schools back will also give us a global competitive edge and help
the nation in its economic transformation programme.

“If we want our children to be global citizens, there are no two ways about it,” said Bina when commenting on The Star executive director and group chief editor Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai's On the Beat column on bringing back English-medium schools.

In
his column yesterday, Wong said that the Government should allow the
use of English as a medium of instruction in schools again.

Wong
added that if there are Chinese and Tamil primary schools alongside
national schools, there is no reason for Malaysians not to have other
options.

At present, he said the other option for better English
proficiency is in private schools, which allocate more time for the
teaching of English despite following the national school syllabus.

“We want to make sure that Malaysians are proficient so that they are not at a competitive disadvantage,” she added.

Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (Melta) president Dr Ganakumaran Subramaniam agreed, saying that English-medium schools does not mean converting to a non-Malaysian curriculum.

“We
also need to remember that if English is the medium only at
international schools, then we are polarising our students further.

“There needs to be equal opportunity,” he added.

StarEducate columnist Mallika Vasugi said the neutrality of the English language also acts as a binding agent.
“What we see now in secondary schools is that different races tend to remain separate, based on their language.

“But
what we also see is that those who mix around the most are the ones who
speak English,” said Mallika who is also an English language teacher.

Sunday, 19 May 2013

More and more Malaysian parents are turning towards homeschooling today for various reasons.

IF you ask Jeremy Lee* how much he likes school, chances are you'll get a rather frank reply.
“I don't like school. I get very restless, and then the teacher will make me stand in the corner and pull my ears,” he says.

Until three years ago, Jeremy, 11, was in a public school. And he had trouble fitting in.

“We
put him in a public school for Year One and Two. From the start, it was
clear he had difficulty adapting. We kept getting complaints from
teachers that he could not concentrate, he couldn't stay in his seat
long, he asked too many questions and was too opinionated.

“Soon, he was labelled as a difficult student and constantly punished,” his mother Sharon Lee*, 38, explains.

Jeremy
adds that he had very few friends in school. “If you want to be friends
with the good students, you have to be very, very good yourself. The
other students are bullies. You have to pay them RM20 to be their
friend,” he says.

Sharon says Jeremy had always been a bubbly and
active child, but his personality began to change and his grades
suffered. “He was so depressed and miserable, it was frightening. Going
to school was like torture for him. He had tonnes of homework, but it
was clear he wasn't learning anything. It was merely a process of doing
lots of homework, and sitting for test after test.”

Jeremy's
father Simon Lee* adds: “Initially, we thought maybe it's because we had
been too easy on him, and so if we pushed him a little more, he would
be able to do better. So we pushed him and we caned him ... but nothing
worked.

“One day in the middle of all the caning, he just cried
back You can cane me until I die, I still won't learn this!' That was
when we knew it just wasn't working.”

Simon and Sharon began to explore other options, including homeschooling

“We
read up, attended workshops ... we even visited families who practised
homeschooling. After about a year of researching and weighing this
option, we decided to give it a try,” Sharon says.

Dr Chiam: ‘Parents need to make sure that the (homeschooled) child is exposed to other environments.’

They
took Jeremy out of the school system when he was nine, and Sharon
started teaching him at home. Today, Jeremy has been homeschooled for
three years, and has his nine-year-old brother Matthew* for a classmate.

“I
think homeschooling has helped him a lot. He likes to find things out
on his own, rather than being force-fed information. He wasn't getting
that opportunity in school. Back then, the system was forcing him with
information, and expecting him to regurgitate it. He couldn't learn that
way.

“Now he explores and learns at his own pace, and he's
definitely doing much better. In fact, he's giving me so much more than
what the programme books are covering. He reads up extra material on
topics he's interested in and really enjoys it,” she explains.

Sharon
applies a mix-and-match syllabus and keeps academic lessons to a
maximum of three hours per day. The rest of the time, her children learn
through activities or pleasure reading.

“I'm using a little bit
of the AOP (Alpha Omega Publications a Christian-based syllabus from the
United States) and Singapore mathematics. That's one advantage of
homeschooling, I can pick and choose what curriculum I want to use.”

The Lees decided to homeschool Matthew for a very different reason.

“Matthew
would have fitted perfectly into the public school system. He's
intelligent and very obedient ... the perfect law-abiding citizen. If
the teacher says No drinking water in class,' he won't drink water the
whole day. If the teacher says No going to the toilet,' he will actually
hold his bladder the whole time he's in school,” Simon says.

“We
believe he would have been an above-average student in a public school,
but we didn't want him to be a fearful child who didn't know how to
express himself. So after a year in public school, we decided to take
him out too.”

The Lees are not alone in homeschooling their
children. They say many other families are also turning to homeschooling
as an alternative education system.

There are essentially three variations of homeschooling:

> parents tutoring their children at home (like the Lees);

> a few families banding to teach their children together in a casual setting;

> centres which apply homeschooling methods and syllabus.

Over
the last four months, Jamie Ong*, 45, has been sending her daughter
Jolyn Ong*, 12, to a homeschooling centre near their home. Jolyn had
spent the last five years in a public school.

“My husband and I
want our children to experience the public school system, where they get
to make friends from the different layers of society. We want them to
experience that first,” she says.

“Our plan is for them to go to a
regular school for five years, but we pull them out in Year Six. We
don't really see the need for them to sit for the UPSR, where they're
just drilled for the exam the whole year.”

Jolyn has two younger siblings in public schools. Jamie plans to take them out, too, after Year 5.
Why homeschooling?

“We
want our children to have a better quality education. We've seen the
public school syllabus and we're not comfortable with it. The education
blueprint ... on paper it looks wonderful, but the reality is a
different story altogether,” Jamie says.

“We also considered
private schools, but the fees are too expensive. Schools we inquired at
were charging around RM10,000 a year, or more. Currently, we're paying
RM450 a month for Jolyn's school fees. It's a lot more affordable.”

Indeed, quality and cost seem to be two major factors why homeschooling centres are mushrooming nationwide.

Emily
Wong*, a principal at one such centre in the Klang Valley, says there
are over 60 students in her centre (between the ages of seven and 18),
and she knows of at least 80 other similar centres in Malaysia.

“Students
can come in at any time of the year; there is no intake period. They
are given an entrance-assessment to see what grade they should start at,
and then they learn at their own pace,” she says.

“Many people
think homeschooling centres are only for children with problems, but
it's not true. We have very bright students, and we have slow students
too they can learn at their own pace.”

The centre applies the
Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary
Education) curriculum, where students sit for the O-Levels when they are
ready. This allows them to later pursue the A-Levels, if they choose to
do so.

Junior students at the centre learn the basic subjects of
English, Mathematics, Bahasa Malaysia, Social Studies (basic
introduction to history and geography), and Science.

In Year Six,
the sciences are split into Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and in Year
Nine, students have the option of taking up additional subjects such as
Business Studies, Accounts and Additional Mathematics. Classes are from
8.30am to 1.45pm, Monday to Friday.

Students have optional
additional activities such as Mandarin classes, and the Emerging Leaders
programme. They can also take up sports, such as badminton and
basketball.

“The students learn through modules books and online.
If they have problems understanding their lessons, we have supervisors
who will assist them,” Wong says.

“Senior students even have
live-conference classes. They can interact with the teacher and ask
questions. These teachers are experienced ... some are even lecturers in
the subjects they are teaching.”

She adds that students are
required to set out daily goals what they set out to do for the day.
When class ends, they recap to see if they've achieved those goals.

“When
a student has completed a module, he sits for a test to see if he has
really understood what he has learned. We hold very high standards for
our students. Our passing mark is 80,” she says.

While
homeschooling seems to have gained popularity in Malaysia in the last 10
to 20 years, it is not a new concept, says Early Childhood Care and
Education (ECCE) Council president Datuk Dr Chiam Heng Keng.

“If
you go back to history, you will see that homeschooling has been long
practised, where affluent families hired governesses to tutor their
children at home. That is homeschooling. Later on, it was more popular
for the rich to send their children to private boarding schools, so even
Prince Charles (Prince of Wales) went to school.

“In the 1970s,
homeschooling regained popularity, particularly in the United States,
which is why many homeschooling syllabuses come from the US,” says Dr
Chiam, formerly a Professor of Social Psychology at Universiti Malaya,
and an authority in child development and early childhood education.

According
to the US National Center for Education Statistics, there were about
1.5 million homeschoolers in 2007. Today, the US National Home Education
Research Institute estimates that there are about two million
homeschoolers in the country.

Across the Atlantic, the Home Education UK website (www.home-education.org.uk)
estimates that “there are around 60,000 (approximately 0.6%) UK
children of compulsory educational age who are currently being
home-educated”.

In Malaysia, data is harder to come by, but
industry insiders estimate that there are 3,000 to 5,000 Malaysian
homeschoolers, the majority of whom keep a low profile as a primary
school enrolment is compulsory by law in the country.

Under
Section 29A of the Education Act 1996, parents who fail to enrol their
children in school can be fined up to RM5,000, jailed up to six months,
or both.

However, parents such as Simon believe that they are not breaking the law.

“I
believe that this law was enacted to prevent child labour, to make sure
children get an education. I may not be sending my children to school,
but I'm giving them quality education,” he says.

Homeschooling,
however, is not totally free from criticism. A main concern is whether
homeschooled children have adequate social interaction with their peers.

“Socially,
they may be impacted, but parents can make up for it by ensuring the
children have opportunities to interact with other children their age
(for example, through sports activities). Parents need to expose their
children to other environments,” Dr Chiam says.

The Lees have done just that Jeremy and Matthew have competitive swimming lessons three times a week.

“They
have friends from their swimming classes, and they are also very active
in church. Jeremy and Matthew both play the drums for the children's
service. Jeremy plays the guitar too,” Sharon says.

“We also belong to a support group of homeschooling families, and the children get to play with the other homeschoolers.”

Is homeschooling for everyone?

“It's
a very personal decision, and there are many factors to consider. For
Jeremy, school couldn't bring out the best in him, so we turned to
homeschooling.

“People often ask us What's the end goal?', but we
don't have fixed answers. We're just trying to do the best by our
children. What we have in mind is for them to find out what they really
enjoy doing. When they enjoy what they do, we believe they will excel,”
Simon concludes.

*Names have been changed to respect the privacy of the individuals.By LISA GOH lisagoh@thestar.com.my

Online banking users in Malaysia need to be wary of sophisticated Trojans.

IMAGINE a burglar hiding in your house and slowly cleaning out your valuables, bit by bit, without you even realising it.

According
to security firm Symantec, that is the common modus operandi of banking
Trojans today, which have grown so sophisticated that they are almost
impossible to detect and very difficult to get rid of.

As its
latest white paper the World of Financial Trojans reveals recently,
malware (short for malicious software) attacked over 600 financial
institutions worldwide last year.

With this growth, bank hold-ups
or ATM robberies, the bank heist of choice in Malaysia these days will
soon be a thing of the past.

The phenomenon is no doubt partly
due to the growing trend of online banking. As banks move online to make
their transactions fast, easy and convenient for customers, cyber
criminals are also finding the digital route the faster, easier and more
convenient mode for looting.

A big threat, the report
highlights, is the rate at which banking Trojans are now developed: with
state-of-the-art mechanisms to circumvent the more complex security
systems and exploit their weaknesses.

Most
worrying, is that while the United States and Japan remain top of their
target list, the banking Trojans are increasingly targeting emerging
economies with high Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in Asia and the Middle
East like Malaysia.

Tan notes, “Malaysia is on the radar of
these cyber criminals and our financial institutions experienced attacks
out of the 600 reported globally last year. We are not in the top 10 of
countries attacked but the threat for Malaysia is no less dangerous.”

Internet
banking has grown steadily in Malaysia since it was first launched in
June 2000, and is now offered by 29 banks in Malaysia. As of September
last year, there were 12.8 million registered users, rising from 3.2
million in 2006 and eight million in 2009.

Predictably, cyber
crimes in Malaysia have also increased, with some RM2.75bil losses
recorded over five years, from 2005 to 2010, especially in the financial
sector.

The fact that cyber criminals are starting to eye
Malaysian banks means we need to be more vigilant and tighten up our
cyber security, says Tan.

“They
need to look at the malware threats they are risked to and look for
measures to mitigate them because any organisation will face these
threats.”

However, one problem is that many of these institutions
cannot keep up with the constantly evolving sophisticated attacks.
Another is the gap in the ability of certain organisations to detect
threats on customers systems, according to the report.

Tan concedes that the security of our financial institutions can be improved.

Another challenge is that the Trojans are beginning to work out which banks have less security, and going after them, he warns.

“There
is a difference in quality between the different banks in terms of how
much of the protection and fraud detection methods they put in place.

“And
if you are a robber trying to decide between two houses one big house
with full security or one smaller house with minimal security; it is
secured with only a padlock and chain which one will you target?” Tan
quizzes.

As the report sums it, banking Trojans now “enter
through the backdoor, strike with clinical precision, and have evolved
to a degree of sophistication that allows attackers to conduct
high-value transactions while evading traditional fraud-detection
measures.”

It is not that banks have been unaware of this growing
threat. Since online banking was first introduced in 1994, cyber
criminals have looked for various ways to attack them. By 2003, around
20 distinct banking Trojans have existed including simple keylogging
Trojans and phishing, said the report.

In response, the banks bolstered their security and fraud detection capabilities.

The problem is, the cyber criminals started adapting, until most security systems and measures were neutralised.

Tan
calls these cyber criminals a specialised hacking community that is no
longer searching for notoriety and fame, but is in it for the money.

“Hackers
now are less noisy than five years ago, but just because there is less
noise right now, it does not mean that they are not there. Trojans now
stay in your computer as quiet and as long as possible to steal as much
money as possible,” Tan cautions.

As mentioned, an attack
technique increasingly used is called “man-in-the-browser” which
basically involves an application hooking into the browser and
manipulating data before it is displayed.

Sophisticated thievery

The
report explains, the users will not be able to detect any malicious
activity but the Trojan will intercept their transactions and inject a
form in the browser requesting sensitive information. Once the user
submits the requested personal information, it steals the data for
future thievery.

The more sophisticated Trojans can automatically execute transactions in the background, the report highlighted.

What
makes it difficult to notice with the naked eye, says Tan, is that “the
domain is legitimate and the security page is accurate. It is your
computer that is affected, so it can steal your personal data or attack
your bank.”

One thing that makes it difficult to clamp down on
the attackers behind these Trojans is that it is not easy to pin the
crime on them.

“Just writing malware is not an offence. It is
hard to pin it as a crime, as long as the writer does not go out and
sell it,” Tan points out.

It
also does not help that they are reportedly organised underground
groups who are not only experts at scripting and automating attacks, but
are also knowledgeable about the sophisticated global financial
industry and supported by a service industry of widely available
malware.

It is akin to organised crime, he opines.

As the
report puts it, “The financial fraud marketplace is also increasingly
organised. It is a service industry where a wide variety of financial
Trojans, webinjects, and distribution channels are bought and sold.
Services being offered are dedicated to each aspect of a financial fraud
campaign. These offerings will improve effectiveness of established
techniques.”

The Top Three of the “Most Wanted” malware list in
2012 were the Zeus Trojan, also known as Zbot (+ Gameover), having
compromised more than 400,000 computers worldwide; followed by Cridex at
more than 250,000 computers compromised and Spyeye at more than 50,000.

Symantec
also points to third-party remote webinjects which can circumvent
security countermeasures, targeting a large number of financial
companies “concurrently and intelligently” as posing a threat to
financial companies.

According to the report, it is not only the
main financial organisations like commercial banks that are high on the
list of targets, but also organisations that perform online financial
transactions such as automated clearing house payments systems and
payroll systems.

It is thus crucial for the “good guys” to be
alert all the time. They can't slip up and must put in place adequate
security mechanisms and take strong measures to deter attackers from
targeting these institutions, Tan urges.

Ultimately, users cannot leave the responsibility for security solely to the institutions, he warns.

“End-users
need to raise their awareness of the threats out there as at the end of
the day, the criminal will go through the end-user to attack the
financial institutions.”

The best measure, he stresses, is not to
get infected in the first place, so installing a good anti-malware
programme on your personal devices is crucial.

As he puts it, anti-malware solutions can stop the malware, even if you were already infected, shares Tan.

“The scanning will pick it up and delete it off your system.”

Tan also emphasises ongoing education in security, as the threats are constantly evolving.

“There
will not be a point where you can say this is it. This is what everyone
should do. End-users need to keep abreast with what security measures
there are.”

Good practice needs to be adopted such as reading the
message box or running an anti-virus before downloading anything from a
website.

“Most of the time when people get a pop-up to say that
you have a malware, they just cancel it or click it close, or when it
says your computer is infected, they just ignore it.”

Significantly, Tan says this is not a call to say that Internet banking is bad.

“Quite the contrary. Internet banking has a lot of benefits.

“But
as we embrace any new technology or media, we just have to be aware of
what the threats are on the Internet. As long as we take adequate
protection, we will be safe.”